Education A National Roundup

Judges Back Michigan Unions, Rule Background Checks Flawed

By Lesli A. Maxwell — February 21, 2006 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

In separate rulings, two judges in Michigan have ordered that a list identifying public school employees with criminal records remain under wraps, saying the information is too flawed to be useful.

Ingham County Circuit Judge Joyce Draganchuk issued a preliminary injunction on Feb. 10, following a week in which hundreds of school employees across Michigan learned that a background check required by a new state law had identified them as convicted criminals. (“Mich. Sex-Offender Law Has Educators in Uproar,” Feb. 15, 2006.)

The Michigan Education Association, which had sued over the matter, demanded that the results be voided.

Judge Draganchuk, who was deciding whether a temporary ban on releasing the names publicly should be made permanent, agreed with the union and employees that the first round of checks resulted in too many errors and should be kept out of the public eye.

In addition, U.S. District Judge Paul Gadola on Feb. 14 issued a temporary ban on releasing the list and ordered that all copies that were sent earlier this month to school districts be recalled. The temporary restraining order was sought by the 35,000-member Michigan affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers

A Michigan state police official said last week that the agency would complete a new round of checks by March 1, this time using more stringent criteria to determine matches.

A version of this article appeared in the February 22, 2006 edition of Education Week

Events

Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Cybersecurity: Securing District Documents and Data
Learn how K-12 districts are addressing the challenges of maintaining a secure tech environment, managing documents and data, automating critical processes, and doing it all with limited resources.
Content provided by Softdocs

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Briefly Stated: March 13, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read
Education Briefly Stated: February 21, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Briefly Stated: February 7, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Briefly Stated: January 31, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read